It's A Wonderful Life
by prettypriestess
Summary: A collection of ficlets and drabbles. Pairings may vary. Largely Josh/Neku, Shiki/Eri.
1. It's a wonderful Life

Um. Well. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. Look, it's not like there are many other people writing for this fandom, okay? (Seriously, I _love_ the World Ends With You, why don't more people love it, too?)

**Warnings**: Spoilers (albeit vague ones) for the ending. Not Secret Reports, though, because I'm not done with those.  
**Pairings**: light, probably imagined Neku/Joshua, Shiki/Eri Rating: None. Seriously, not even for language.  
**Notes**: Essentially, my personal canon for what totally happened post-game. Plus, bonus Music of Shibuya drabble. :D

---

It had been a while since they had seen Joshua. Neku had gone away to college, and Joshua hadn't been able to leave Shibuya.

Joshua, thankfully, didn't seem to mind, just like he never seemed to mind anything else. Neku had gotten slightly more adept than even Shiki or Rhyme at reading people, though, especially Shibuya's Composer. He could see that Joshua was relieved, had harbored fear that they could have died somewhere that didn't belong to him, had feared that any one of them, especially Neku, could have found a better place to die.

"So, are you going to finally tell me what you've been studying all these years?" Joshua asked in his usual playful tone.

Neku grinned. "I had planned to go for psychology or something like that, you know, _broadening my horizons,_ but I had a roommate with some kind of music fetish and I learned how to write music. Turns out I have a knack for composing and conducting." He pulled a piece of paper out of nowhere. It was a mess of lines and notes, but Joshua could read it as if he were hearing it. The title was hastily crammed into one corner in Neku's messy handwriting. It read _The Shibuya River._

"No one else will get the title, but I thought you might like the original copy," he babbled.

Joshua smiled. "It's very nice." He paused. "So, how are you at conducting?"

Neku's face dropped. "You haven't found a replacement for Lollipop, have you?"

Joshua smirked back. "Now what might make you say that? Anyway, you could visit the RG regularly, just look at Def Märch. Clearly, even the RG wants you to conduct."

"The RG wants me to compose," Neku corrected.

"Ah, well, we can't all be perfect interpreters of what the RG wants, can we?"

--

Eri had been picked up right out of high school. D+B wanted her to design for them. She had looked at Shiki uncertainly and insisted that she be brought along, or Eri wasn't going. The scout had shrugged and said it was Eri's call, they'd find another designer willing to work for them in no time.

In a few years Black Cat had joined the trend list, and kept pushing for the top.

Neku had become something resembling their top model. Every time he saw Shiki or Eri with a needle he died a little more inside.

Joshua refused to be caught on camera (not that that stopped Eri or Shiki) and would not allow his picture to be published (and that was where things got interesting, because entire rough drafts of magazines had a tendency to get lost or stolen when they had Joshua's picture in them, just moments from being finalized sometimes), but otherwise was a willing model for any experimentation with color or design that might clash with Neku's hair or complexion.

Rhyme got free clothes every time she visited Shiki and Eri at their studio or apartment, and even Beat knew better than to hang around too long if Eri looked like she had an idea.

--

"Can you hear it?" Joshua asked. He'd asked before, leaving Neku to ponder what he was supposed to hear.

Neku still wore his headphones, but he killed the beat when he was around friends. He could hear an underlying beauty to the diversity of Shibuya now. Beat and Rhyme were at a Def Märch concert and Eri had been stricken with inspiration as soon as Neku had walked into the room (he had fled as soon as he saw the glint in her eye) so it was just him and Joshua for the night.

Neku watched people pushing past each other on the street, listened to their chatter and the machinery and noise of Shibuya all around.

"Yeah," he said at last. "'S a good song."

Joshua smiled. "Thanks."

--

Shibuya's music wasn't a gentle caress, a calm fluttering melody. It beat and pounded with a complicated and conflicting rhythm. It changed and warped and fluctuated, modulating and breaking and rebuilding every few minutes. Neku wondered just how Shades had put up with it. The _style_--well, it didn't have a single style. The _rhythm_--if one could call it that-- the _something,_ the _everything_ was nothing like what he might picture Shades conducting in any kind of actual orchestra.

The music of Shibuya was messier than Def Märch's practices and louder, too. It was obnoxious and an awful cacophony of sound that didn't line up with his first impression of Joshua, either.

Shibuya sang like a classroom of children picking up instruments for the first time. It had no pattern, no order. At best, it was an acquired taste, at worst, a cacophony, a mess, a monstrosity of sound inhuman enough to make one's ears bleed.

Neku loved it.


	2. The Music of Shibuya

To be fair, this was at least half-inspired by Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Daisy was always my favorite character, and I was thinking of her "Evil-doers beware!" when I got the idea for Shiki and Eri's "Do your best!"

**Warnings**: Spoilers for the ending, but not Secret Reports.  
**Pairings**: Could be gen.  
**Notes**: I've seen several people do something wherein Composer or Conductor identifies or manipulates people through their music, or the like, and I thought that was kind of neat, but so many people were doing it... And then I looked down and realized I was moving. Somewhere in-between I had stepped onto the bandwagon. Damn.

---

Beat's song is fast-paced and exciting. It doesn't repeat itself often, except when Rhyme is near, and then it slows down and floats along; an accompanying piece, a harmony.

Rhyme's song is soft and beautiful with a bouncing pop beat interlaced to give it some feeling. It's a riveting melody, aimless and friendly.

Shiki's and Eri's songs are remarkably similar. The words sing out "Do your best!" And where Shiki's melody drags, Eri's picks up the pace, and in turn, when Eri's melody takes off, rushing ahead in her inspiration or in her anger, Shiki's melody pulls it back.

Back when Eri had first been introduced to the rest of the crew, their songs had been similar, yes, but not intertwined. A month into Shiki's second life, they've become a duet, singing and sewing and staying together as if they had rehearsed their song for years before beginning it.

Neku's song is not quite as simple; he'd been attached, near-irreversibly, to his headphones for years, now, pulling himself deeper into his own music. Given his strong soul and stronger determination, it's no wonder he doesn't have a song after the game, so much as a soundtrack.

It's a beautiful rhythm around Shiki, bass and a beat with the most beautiful orchestra playing along, as if in thanks, or apology, or both.

It's a fast-paced simplistic beat, endless and friendly for Beat and Rhyme. It's joyful and fun, pouncing and running, like a puppy eager to play.

For Joshua, everything slows down in the melody, a smooth collection of horns and stringed instruments, like he imagines Joshua might actually have composed were he a composer in life. The sound is a trusting, friendly lull, accompanied by a harmony that is fast-paced, and nearly frightening in its ferocity; a constant reminder that Joshua isn't quite forgiven for everything.

Shibuya's song welcomes them all, feeling stronger for it, and Joshua listens. Eventually, his song changes, too. It's lighter and smoother, more relaxed like his attitude, closer to people and the city.

---

Joshua thinks that "composer" is a bit of a misnomer. It's just a title, anyway. He has the power to write Shibuya's music for her. He has the power to rewrite the song of every person within her limits. He could, but he doesn't. Shibuya takes her song from her inhabitants, and her inhabitants develop their own music. It is up to Joshua to make sure that her inhabitants are the ones who will better her song, helping it to grow and flourish.

These children, he realizes, are exactly what Shibuya needed.


	3. Fun With Beat And Rhyme

I, um. May have gotten carried away the other day. I don't usually sit down and write three pages all at once. Especially not three pages worth publishing.

**Warnings:** Ending spoilers in the middle part, marked by ---; entirely skippable and barely even related to the rest of the thing.  
**Pairings:** None. Weird, right?  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** We all know how Beat and Rhyme met up in the UG, thanks to the opening sequence and Beat's helpful explanation, but it's nice to have the scene written out anyway. Shrew Wave is that mole Noise with the bombs. In case anyone was having a blank at the site of an unfamiliar phrase.

---

"My point!" Uzuki shouted as the shrew wave's bomb went off, throwing the little girl with the skull beanie off the building.

Kariya watched a boy with a similar hat and hair color panic, then skateboard to the girl, catching her just in time. Uzuki, predictably, shrieked like a banshee. "Huh. Still my lead," he reminded her.

On the ground, Beat and Rhyme sped away, fleeing as far from the Noise and the Reapers as possible.

"We should make a pact, yo," Beat said. Rhyme nodded. The light show lifted them off of the skateboard and separated them, gently allowing both Beat and Rhyme to land on their feet. Beat's skateboard kept rolling, as it had wanted no part of the light show.

"I'm Raimu Bito, nice to meet you," Rhyme said, once they were on the ground again, safe.

Beat choked for a second. "Name's Beat," he said.

Rhyme smiled. "Should we go get your skateboard?"

"BWAAAH~! Oh, yeah, c'mon, Rhyme!" He grabbed her again and took off, not bothering to dodge passers-by as he chased his board. They went right through like ghosts, anyway.

---

Back at Hachiko, the Composer watched his proxy. It wouldn't do for his choice to be erased in the first few minutes of the game just because of a little memory loss. A girl--the one full of envy--made a pact with him.

Joshua made his exit while they were fighting their first battle together. Neku Sakuraba would be on his own from there.

---

"Umm, which way is 104?" Rhyme asked. She had been to 104 before, she knew she had, but there were so many holes in her memory--it was all blurry.

Beat hesitated. He couldn't let his sister down. He looked around. There was definitely a statue on the way to the scramble, and they could see the 104 building from there.

"That way!" Beat insisted, pointing toward the Moyai statue. It was a 50-50 chance they'd get it right.

Rhyme followed him without hesitation. Her head felt like Swiss cheese. She could recall dressing rooms and clothing racks in the backs of the stores, but she was alone in all of her clear memories. She had probably gone with her brother, she realized. Her parents wouldn't have let her go on her own. Unfortunately, her brother was a giant blank, as well.

They wound up at Hachiko a few minutes later, feeling confident that they had come the right way. Beat made for the scramble crossing, glancing back periodically to make sure Rhyme was following.

"Oh, dibs!" a female voice cooed.

"Aight," a male called back, too calmly.

Suddenly, there were noise charging Beat and Rhyme.

"Yo, how much time we got, Rhyme?"

Rhyme looked at her hand. "Not a lot."


	4. Fun With Beat And Rhyme II

This and the last chapter were in-game things written out. The rest are not.

**Warnings:** Angstier than I think Beat or Rhyme deserve to be.  
**Pairings:** None, really.  
**Rating:** G  
**Notes:** Another thing the game totally gave us, and I totally wanted to see written out anyway.

---

"Huh? Rhyme!" Beat sat up, looking around frantically for his partner. They were at the station underpass, and Rhyme was sitting a few feet away. She looked brave, but Beat knew it was a front. He was aware that he wasn't the brightest, but he knew Rhyme.

"No mission yet," she told him. She was smiling, because she had always been a morning person, and Beat had no doubt that she had a reason to be happy, but whatever she was worrying about was making a good effort to drag her optimism down. Beat waited. "So, um, Beat," she started, right on cue, "Do you remember everything from when you were alive?"

"Mos'ly, but I got pretty bad memory anyway," Beat admitted.

"Oh," Rhyme said, her smile faltering. "I can't remember what I wanted to do. I remember being good in school and--and some other stuff," she added lamely. She suspected she used to draw, but her memory was failing again, the majority of her artwork just a big blank. "But I don't know-- What if I come back to a life where I wasn't any good? What kind of little girl doesn't have dreams?" She remembered other girls, girls in her class who wanted to grow up to be teachers, doctors, wealthy,_ anything._

Beat grimaced. "I'm gonna be the greatest skateboarder ever," he said. It was a lie, but he could lie for Rhyme. "You're prolly good at lots of stuff, yo. Your dream will find you." It was something Rhyme used to tell him, only days ago.

Rhyme smiled, wiping her face. She had been crying. Beat hugged her, feeling even worse. "Thanks," she said, returning his embrace. "That helped a lot."


	5. Ctrl Z

I can't just let all of those other characters go in my head. This is personal canon, man.

**Warnings:** Ending spoilers. Pretty noticeable, too. Also crack.  
**Pairings: **Joshua/Neku? About the level of canon, actually.  
**Rating:** T. Language.  
**Notes:** Summary? "My life is a joke to you."

---

"I think you should undo the whole thing," Neku told Joshua.

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone who was Erased--bring them back, even the Reapers, give them another chance. That game was between you and Shades--"

"Kitaniji," Joshua reminded him.

"--Right, it was between you two, and there is no reason anyone else should have suffered for those weeks."

"Your friends weren't enough of a reward, you want more?" Joshua replied dangerously.

Neku held his ground. "I want the others to be given a fair chance. You _can_ do that, can't you? You brought back Rhyme."

Joshua stared at him, a cold piercing stare. Well, he had needed a good explanation for his remaining Reapers, anyway, what was a little extensive memory loss between minions?

"Okay," he said, at last, though by then it was already done. Contrary to the average manga, shouting out an ability or doing a complicated hand gesture was not actually necessary for impressive magic use. "It'll cost you."

"Name it," Neku replied. He was surprised, and he tried to hide it. It didn't work, and he hadn't thought it would, but he made the effort. He had been expecting to have to argue a lot for this.

"I'm hungry," Joshua said thoughtfully. "I could really use a bowl of_ ramen._"

"Really?" Neku deadpanned. "That's it? You'll just undo the whole thing if I buy you a bowl of ramen?" Something was off, he could feel it. That wasn't all Joshua was asking for.

Joshua shrugged. "If it's too much..."

"No, no, it's okay," Neku said, too quickly. There went his cool, badass facade.

Joshua smirked. "Alright then, it's settled. Ramen every Wednesday, and coffee on Saturdays."

"What? That's not what you just-- Aren't you technically dead anyway? Can you consume food?"

Joshua sighed the Sigh of the Eternally Patient Martyr. "Maintaining a low frequency for the RG takes more effort, so I need more energy. It's like playing a really low note on a wind instrument."

"I have never played an instrument in my life," Neku shot back, effectively rendering the analogy useless.

"Honestly, Neku," Joshua replied, standing up. He started walking toward the Dead God's Pad as he spoke. "And on Mondays I'll be teaching you how to play-- Hm. How does guitar sound to start with? Not that it matters, you'll have to learn quite a lot if you're going to conduct for me."

Neku's face dropped. "When did becoming your Conductor become part of the agreement?"

"When you killed my last one?" Joshua offered. "Everyone else seemed to think if they could defeat me that it earned him or her the opportunity for my job, I don't see why it would not apply to Megumi's job. Besides, I brought everyone back and agreed to go to lunch with you. You could at least offer to make up for some of my discomforts."

"I really don't think that using a bit of your god-like power really needs my help," Neku grumbled. He was sunk and he knew it, it was mostly token protest, now.

"Oh," Joshua looked thoughtful as he waited at the doorway for Neku to follow. "Well, I could Erase everyone again..."

"You--" Neku said forcefully. "There are no words for what you are. Con artist." He followed, a bit reluctantly.

"Ah-- Did I mention the Conductor's uniform?" Joshua asked as they walked by the couch.

Neku spotted the French maid outfit on the couch. It had been there on the way in, but it hadn't seemed at all significant. "No," he said. "I draw the line here, I don't care how trendy that thing is."

"Megumi was rather tall and broad-shouldered to pull it off--" Neku cringed at the mental image. Joshua continued to ignore him. "--but I think it will suit you nicely."

"That--that has nothing to do with music. Not even a little bit," Neku argued. Then, "Wait, you planned this whole thing!"

"You are rather predictable, Neku," Joshua told him.

"My life is a joke to you," Neku said miserably.

Joshua giggled. "What makes you think that, Neku?" he asked innocently, stepping out of the room and into the sewer. His laughter echoed hauntingly as Neku trailed after, as if in warning for Neku's future. Neku reflected that it could be worse, but he didn't really believe himself.


	6. Def Märch

**Warnings:** Def Märch.  
**Pairings:** Def Märch?  
**Rating:** T. For Def Märch. (And language, though to be honest, it's probably visible without scrolling.)  
**Notes:** I love Def Märch.

---

After a brief period wherein everyone thought that Def Märch lead singer, 777, was dead, Def Märch returned with a vengeance.

Rumors flew about drug overdoses and cover-ups and secret girlfriends until Tenho told the reporters, "Fuck off, he's back, whatever," just to shut them all up.

Only days after the band's successful return and subsequent rise on the charts, despite their continued indie status, they released a new single. There was quite a lot of speculation about the meaning and origin of the lyrics, but this was nothing new.

The line, "Erased and re-written, Our lives fly by like falling tears off the cheeks of the man who Composes the song of the world," was speculated to be based on a dream, or possibly an acid trip, 777 had once had.


	7. Amnesia Sucks

**Warnings:** Ending Spoilers. Hardcore.  
**Pairings:** Nothing specific, but J/N implied?  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** Personal canon, yo. Also, I feel really proud of that one Beat line down there.

---

Shiki and Beat forgot the last leg of their journey. Everything after falling unconscious in the Dead God's Pad was a blank, leaving Neku the only person left who remembered that Joshua was the Composer.

Joshua was introduced to Shiki and Rhyme simply as Neku's second partner. Beat still thought he was prissy and bitchy, but he trusted Joshua because he trusted Neku.

The exact circumstances of how everyone had been brought back were unclear, but they all assumed that Neku had made a deal with the Composer ("Naw, the Composer made a deal wit' Phones, man. You din' see how strong he got inna last week, yo.") and past that they were all a bit curious, but Neku didn't tell, so Beat, Shiki, and Rhyme didn't ask.


	8. OverProtective Love

This one was labeled "Eri meets everybody. (AKA The One Where We Prepare For What Over-Protective Beat Might Look Like One Day)."**  
**

**Warnings:** Unusual characterization?  
**Pairings:** Almost anything is fair game, but saying Everybody/Anybody sounds a little dirty.  
**Rating:** G  
**Notes:** I imagine everyone is very protective of everyone else after the whole fiasco. Eri seemed to imply (or did she outright state...?) that Shiki was her best friend, and Shiki didn't seem to have any other close friends, so I imagine she might get a little protective, too. Post-game, but no spoilers.

---

"Where have you been, lately, Shiki?" Eri asked.

Shiki looked up from her latest project. Eri had had nothing to do with the design, so she was a bit curious. "No, no, look away!" Shiki said, throwing herself over the mess of black cloth and cotton.

Eri laughed, but turned around, staring at the ceiling for good measure. She made it look like it was a _fascinating_ ceiling. "Sorry, it just seems like you keep disappearing."

"I'm not disappearing, I promise," Shiki gushed.

"You're happier lately," Eri admitted, puzzled, but happy to be so. "More energetic. Did you find a boy? I don't mean to pry, but I saw you meeting up with a boy with headphones at Hachiko last week."

It was Shiki's turn to laugh. "No, um, that was Neku. He's just a friend. I met him just before you apologized about that thing you said about being a designer--he helped me see that right. You can turn around now."

Eri immediately looked to the table. There was nothing left, of course. Shiki had hidden the cloth and cotton and thread away. There was no pattern or hint as to what she had made, either. "Well, if he's that important, I _have_ to meet him," she said imperiously, but she was smiling softly, glad that Shiki could be so happy.

Shiki tilted her head thoughtfully. "Actually, he would probably like to meet you, too. I mention you, um, a lot," she admitted.

Eri grinned. "It's settled, then."

---

Neki and Eri's first meeting was, perhaps, not as friendly as Shiki had anticipated. They were wary of each other, like wolves circling a carcass, ready to snap at any moment.

Shiki found herself the center of their attentions when they weren't watching one another.

Toward the end of the day, about the time the gang usually split up, Neku and Eri inexplicably stepped away from the group and disappeared. Shiki almost followed, but was stopped by Joshua's what-can-you-do? shrug and Rhyme's insistent "Some fights are for life, others are for honor."

Hesitantly, Shiki stayed seated and waited while Rhyme tried to distract her by talking about Def Märch's new single, "It's A Wonderful Life."

Beat, for once, didn't look at all confused by what everyone else wasn't saying. "They jus' lookin' out for ya, Shiki," he said when Rhyme's dialog ended. "Same as me an' Rhyme. Jus' think if some guy tried ta talk to her."

And suddenly, Shiki understood. "Oh." She blushed.

Joshua looked up abruptly. Neku and Eri were on their way back, smiling like old friends.

"So--um," Shiki began.

"We came to an understanding," Eri told her, taking a seat between Shiki and Rhyme, though slightly closer to Shiki than she had been before.

Neku nodded as he sat between Joshua and Shiki. "Dunno why you didn't start bringing Eri along sooner," he said, smiling.

Eri grinned, patting Shiki on the back. "You've got great taste in friends," she agreed.


	9. Scary Movies

**Warnings:** I use the word "coke" as opposed to "cola" or "pop" or "soda." I have been informed that this is a Southern thing. Huh.  
**Pairings:** Could be Shiki/Eri, could be gen.  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** It could totally be assumed that Shiki and Eri go to movies with groups of friends. Or it could be assumed that they're totally just movie-goers with each other. I leave it ambiguous.

---

Shiki used to be afraid of horror movies. She would jump and spill popcorn and cokes until Eri decided to stick to comedies and chick-flicks and any other genre she could find.

After--honestly, Eri isn't sure what happened in-between, but after that night she told Shiki she wasn't meant to be a designer (they apologized and made up, and it's mostly forgotten, but Eri still regrets it, more than she reasonably should, she realizes), when Shiki suddenly has four friends as close as Eri (maybe closer, Eri reluctantly admits to herself), Shiki suddenly starts inviting Eri to horror movies.

Neither of them is a big fan of gore, but Eri has always loved horror movies and now that they suddenly don't bother Shiki like they used to, they're even better.

Shiki still jumps sometimes, spilling popcorn and the occasional coke, but she laughs and smiles afterward, and she leaves the theater looking happier, rather than scared witless.

Eri knows that Shiki isn't telling her something--something important--but Shiki is happier now, and more confident than Eri has ever seen her, so she lets it go.


	10. Going Native

I actually had these up yesterday, but I forgot to add them as chapters in the story. Oops.

**Warnings:** Spoilers for the ending and for the Secret Reports. And, not that there's much to spoil, but it helps if you've played through Another Day. Parallel universes (brain hurt).  
**Pairings:** Gen.  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** I tried to be as non-spoilery as possible, but there was only so much I could do with this. Inspired by Crowley and Aziraphale. They're past "going native." It is my firm belief that they should actually be running things. They're the only ones who see humans as _people_, anyway.

---

Joshua was going native, he realized abruptly. He thought back to his other self--many of them, but in particular the one in the Tin Pin-obsessed world. At least he knew he wouldn't change _too_ drastically if he became more human.

There was a time when he rarely cared about the difference in his other selves, but lately he found that he preferred the thought of Pink than the thought of his lonely apathetic self in one of the worlds on the other end of the spectrum. It was only natural, he thought.

Joshua didn't think about the few where Minamimoto had won, where Neku had been unable to defeat Megumi, where Sanae had Fallen, and Joshua relieved of his position as Composer of Shibuya.

He had read a scientific journal once, on the study of parallel universes. One theory had stated that all parallel universes try to reunite with the same time line as the parent universe. In that case, he was at least reassured that bringing back all four Players had been the right choice.

Joshua looked at the sky, the position of the sun in his Shibuya. It was time for their weekly Hachiko meeting. He smiled softly to himself and ambled slowly toward the statue. He had made a habit of showing up at the very last minute since the Game, he saw no reason to change this just because they were all in the RG.


	11. Bonnie and Clyde

**Warnings:** Character death? On the level of canon, of course.  
**Pairings:** Sota/Nao.  
**Rating:** PG? Violence, but not explicit or anything.  
**Notes:** Did anyone else wonder how Sota and Nao died? Or about that detective running around looking for a trendy girl of about Nao's decription? (Not that there aren't plenty more girls like Nao, but. It's more fun this way, okay?) I have no idea who the thief is. Feel free to imagine a real professional jewel thief in his place.

---

Nao looked around carefully, watching for the detective who had been after her all week. It wasn't like he could tell her from any other trendy-pretty girl with a tan and light hair, but she was wary nonetheless. Sota exited Tigre Punks and sidled up to her side.

"Hey, babe," he said, kissing the top of her head. "Ready to go?"

"Like, totally! Let's, like, make for the hills, okay?" Nao replied ecstatically. She was a professional, and Sota was her everything. The diamonds were in the car, carefully sewed into a purse and set in necklaces that were trendy all over Shibuya. To the average Shibuya fashion whiz, Nao was just taking advantage of the sudden rush for rhinestones and cubic zirconium. It was cool to not have ridiculous amounts of cash right now, and clear gems were in.

The actual cubic zirconium and rhinestones had been taken out and put in the diamonds' original bag, left on a park bench out in Miyashita.

Sota grinned at Nao and together, they walked to the car, grabbing Nao's purse full of its "fake" jewelry and making their way toward the train station. At Hachiko, they were stopped when Sota thought he saw something happen--saw someone flicker in and out of existence for a moment. He was jarred by the experience, and Nao focused her attention on him for a moment, letting their guard down.

They never saw the guy coming.

"Well, it's good to see my work cut out for me," he said to Sota and Nao's corpses in the alley. "The diamonds are disguised and everything. I knew it was a good idea to shadow you two." He carefully wrapped both Sota and Nao's hand around the gun, careful not to touch it himself with his ungloved hand. Their prints were all over the gun, and their corpses artfully arranged. To the living, it looked like a betrayal.


	12. Fun with Beat And Rhyme III

**Warnings:** I've probably murdered Japanese culture in here somewhere. I have no idea what Gin and Kurenai might actually mean, or if they're normal names, even. I shamelessly stole them from other anime.  
**Pairings:** implied Neku/Joshua and Shiki/Eri  
**Rating:** T, language. (I'm so bad.)  
**Notes:** This is probably a short-oneshot, rather than a ficlet or drabble like it damned well should be. Actually, it's more like a mesh of vignettes.

---

"Honey, what happened after that fight?" Kurenai Bito asked her husband.

Gin Bito shrugged. "What fight?"

"About a month ago, Beat stormed out and... He's been really well-behaved ever since, but I can't remember what we said to him afterward."

Gin shrugged again, turning the page in his newspaper. "Does it matter?"

Kurenai hesitated. "Not really, but..."

---

Beat and Rhyme had new friends now. They had started coming over a few days before Kurenai had noticed the hole in her memory. The boy wasn't a skater punk with terrible taste in music and clothing--well, not the _same_ terrible taste in music and clothing anyway, and the other was a girl, which was in and of itself a baffling occurrence.

Sometimes another boy came with them. He was fluffy-haired and looked prissy, but had impeccable manners. His eyes were violet, though, which threw Gin off and made him wary of "freaks like that." The boy didn't seem to mind.

Kurenai was glad to see such positive influences on Beat, and a little bit of feminine influence on Rhyme.

Their circle further expanded later, when another girl started coming with the boys to the Bito household. She had much the same reaction that the first girl and boy had had; she gasped when she saw the house and looked in awe around the house, occasionally hissing things like "Woah, you guys didn't tell me Beat and Rhyme were loaded!" and "Is that _real?_" The real cherry on top came when the girl saw Kurenai's shoes and she almost fainted. "Those are genuine Pegaso, aren't they?" she said in awe, but she already knew. Kurenai could see the exact moment when her eyes landed on the subtle markings of Pegaso that were so impossible for imitators to recreate.

The other girl had hissed "Told you so," and looked smug. It was odd to see, Kurenai realized, because she was getting to know her children's friends, and Girl Number One rarely looked smug.

---

The first fight after the-incident-Kurenai-couldn't-remember came when Beat came home with a tattoo on his bicep. It looked like wings made of ink, triangular and reaching in on themselves. When Gin voiced this, Beat went cold and full of rage like Kurenai had never seen before. Rhyme stepped up to her mother while her brother and father were screaming at each other. "It's for me," she said. "Because-- because Beat was sorry after that last fight and Neku needed someone to get his art out, and Beat was going to get it done anyway, he'd just rather have someone who already knew what the design looked like."

Kurenai saw how earnest Rhyme looked, and she had no doubt that the tattoo really was for Rhyme. "Why wings?" she asked.

"It's not just wings," Rhyme explained. "Wings would be-- they wouldn't be what Beat was looking for. They're special wings off of-- hang on, I've got a picture." Rhyme ran upstairs and came back, holding out a sketch. "This was done by Neku."

Kurenai looked over the artwork. It was very well done, she thought. "Is that a flying squirrel?" she asked.

Rhyme blushed. "Yeah."

Kurenai looked up at her husband. He was breathing heavily. Beat turned on his heel and stormed out of the house. "Can you talk to him?" Rhyme asked. She meant her father. She always did. Kurenai nodded. Rhyme dashed out of the house, after her brother.

---

Kurenai didn't tell Gin who had given Beat the tattoo or the artwork, but she did make sure to convey that Beat had gotten the tattoo done in honor of his little sister. Gin still didn't approve, but at least he was calm enough to listen now.

Things were tense for a while. Beat and Rhyme hung out with their friends for a few weeks, rather than inviting the whole group over to the Bito household.

---

For a while, Kurenai had wondered if perhaps the boy with the headphones and the girl with the stuffed animal were an item. When the other two joined the group, the polite boy seemed like such a gentleman around the designer girl, too.

Much later, Kurenai realized that the couples she had thought possible were ludicrous at best, based on the group's dynamic. Beat seemed to express little to no interest in either of the girls, keeping an eye on Rhyme instead.

In fact, the more Kurenai watched the group, glimpses here and there when she brought them cookies or offered drinks or checked in just to make sure they weren't breaking anything, like many of Beat's old friends used to do, the more she suspected the girls were an item and the boys were still dancing around one another.

It could be worse, she realized. At least none of them were out for Rhyme's virtue. She would never get the blood out of the carpet if Beat suspected any single one of them as being a danger to Rhyme.

---

Kurenai had troubles learning the first boy's name, since Beat constantly referred to him as "Phones"; however, Joshua seemed to see that Kurenai was unaccustomed to having to learn names and introduced himself as often as necessary, seeming to have an instinct for when was necessary.

The girls were Shiki and Eri, but she had no idea which was which, even given the extra time to adapt to the first girl's presence. The names seemed to be a point of occasional confusion even among the group.

---

Beat and Rhyme announced getting jobs at Neku's tattoo parlor only days after Beat graduated high school (and he had _graduated!_ Kurenai felt old and accomplished and _so proud,_ because he wasn't exactly top of the class, but he was definitely above what he had been only a few years ago). Rhyme wasn't allowed to do much more than man the counter until she came of age (that was a scary thought, Kurenai realized. Her baby girl was only two years away from being on her own, as well.), but she was perfectly willing to do that much until she could do more.

Rhyme argued that it was a valuable learning experience for a field that she was greatly interested in and Beat told his mother that Rhyme was a hella good tattoo artist.

They left Kurenai to convince Gin, like the dirty, heartless children they were. She told them they were getting jobs at that nice café on Cat Street, instead. No one was going to win that argument.


	13. Meet The Misakis

Last chapter was a post-game thing for the Bito family, and I decided to do one for the Misaki family, too. Sakuraba is up next, then Joshua's everything.

**Warnings:** OC PoV (I consider that a bonus, but some people...). I have probably murdered Japanese culture in here somewhere. The names were semi-carefully chosen this time. Woo? that might be scarier. Huh.  
**Pairings:** Shiki/Eri, Joshua/Neku, Shiki/Neku?  
**Rating:** G  
**Notes:** Shiki uses English/Roman letters because Joshua, Beat, and Rhyme are English names, and it just seemed easier than forcing everyone to look up Kanji or Hiragana for the purpose of describing the tattoo.

---

Shiki did not invite friends over. Toruko and Kenji Misaki knew this.

Shiki invited _Eri_ over, and if the girls barely left Shiki's room for anything but sustenance and the sewing room, neither of them questioned it.

Sometimes Shiki went to Eri's house, until she didn't. There had been a night there, somewhere, when Shiki had called after dark on a planned sleepover night, crying.

Everything was resolved the next morning, but neither Toruko nor Kenji could remember if Shiki had come home crying, or if she had come home at all.

They tried not to think about it too hard; Kenji got a severe headache when he did, and Toruko had a tendency to go on cleaning sprees, because that's what she always did when she couldn't remember what she had been doing. There was always something to clean, always something forgotten and dusty somewhere.

Shiki started going out more after the resolved incident with Eri, and she didn't just go out with Eri anymore.

Shiki would disappear for hours, eating dinner elsewhere and coming home both exhausted and satisfied. She dropped names here and there, too, like_ Neku._ There was _always_ a Neku. Then there was Rhyme and Beat, one name never far from the other, always together like a couple, or siblings, or a comedy routine. Shiki mentioned a Joshua once or twice, and after regularly disappearing with these strangers, Eri's name found its way into the same summaries of Shiki's day.

After a year of this, Toruko and Kenji had to concede that these friends weren't going away any time soon, so Toruko insisted on inviting them all over for dinner.

Shiki was baffled by the sudden interest in her social life, but she agreed to invite the lot of them over.

---

The actual invitation was given at the beginning of the weekly Hachiko meet.

It was, by far, not the only time the group met, but every Saturday the group met up at Hachiko to lay out a general outline for the week. ("No can do, Wednesday," Neku said. "I'm looking at potential buildings." "Are you really opening a tattoo parlor?" Eri asked incredulously. "Hm, I suppose it would be best to get my business out of the way on Wednesday, then," Joshua said thoughtfully, never clarifying what business a teenage boy could possibly need to take care of on a weekly basis.)

Everyone agreed that Friday would be best, and so, the time and date were set.

---

Kenji was helping Toruko in the kitchen when the first two of Eri's friends arrived. Joshua introduced himself and offered to help in the kitchen. Kenji was about to scream "Yes, yes, help us,_ please!_" when Toruko spoke up, saying, "We're fine, run along and say hello to Shiki. Would you mind reminding her to let us know once everyone has arrived?"

Joshua had checked his phone, then smiled and told Toruko that Beat and Rhyme were skating down Cat Street as they spoke, and Eri was running a bit late.

Neku had also introduced himself, waiting for Joshua before deciding to go find Shiki.

Beat and Rhyme arrived several minutes later, as predicted, and Eri walked in as if she also lived at the Misaki household just in time to catch Toruko calling the others for dinner.

---

Toruko's first impression of Neku and Joshua was that they mostly disliked each other, tolerating one another simply for Shiki and the others. They glared and bickered and sniped at each other (more of the glaring and sniping on Neku's part, and more looking innocent on Joshua's, as if he had no idea _why_ Neku thought he was being offensive, and with the too-polite tone and mostly-innocent comments he made, Toruko could almost see where Neku was coming from).

Toruko thought about how they had arrived together, though, and waited for each other just to go to another room, and the way they were sitting next to each other... She was a little saddened that Neku didn't seem to be interested in Shiki romantically, like she suspected Shiki was in him, but at the same time she was glad that her baby girl wasn't rushing into relationships at such a young age.

Kenji's first impression of Neku and Joshua had been_ gay, gay, gay_. They had little-to-no-personal space and more in-jokes between them than the rest of the group combined, if their dinner conversation was anything to go by.

Kenji picked up on Shiki's attachment to Eri. Where Toruko saw a crush on Neku and a best friend in Eri, Kenji saw the opposite. He was a little unhappy that he would never have any grandchildren, but on the other hand he trusted Eri around his daughter much more than he trusted any boys, ever.

---

Despite Rhyme accidentally breaking a glass, which Toruko insisted was her own fault for having placed it so close to the edge of the counter, and Beat's sudden protectiveness ("It wasn't Rhyme's fault, yo!" he shouted. "Um, Beat, it's okay, it _was_ my fault," Rhyme interrupted.), both of which Rhyme offered to compensate for, the evening went rather well.

Toruko and Kenji assured everyone that they were all welcome back anytime, and that they were honored their daughter had such good friends.

---

Shiki agreed to be one of Neku's guinea pigs for his tattoo career. She was the first to ask for a design not his own, or a re-creation of a Noise.

The sketch was simple, hardly worthy of the title "sketch"; the head was a cat's, the letter "E" for a body, "J" and "N" for the arms (left and right respectively), and "B" and "R" for the legs. The finished result was something that much resembled Mr. Mew.

Shiki had it done on the outside of her right thigh so that it was easily concealed by pants or long shorts, but not entirely hidden if she wanted to show it to her friends to remind them of what they had endured.

Toruko was only doing a part of her morning routine by barging in to make sure that Shiki was awake and ready for school. Shiki was actually not, having woken up late and just getting her jeans on when her mother entered. She tried for a smooth continuation of motion (one thing she had learned from her friends was that if she made a mistake it would usually go unnoticed if she drew no attention to it), but it was too late.

"What was that on your leg?" Toruko asked.

"What was what?" Shiki asked, aiming for _genuinely innocent and confused_ and winding up somewhere near _have you been eating the funny cereal again, mother?_

"Was that--" Toruko looked baffled. "Sorry, it's too early, I thought I saw a tattoo or something."

"Just a bruise," Shiki assured her. "Have you had your coffee yet, Mom?"

Toruko shrugged, trying to go for nonchalant. "I'm trying to stop drinking it. I don't think it's working."


	14. You Wish Your Family Was This Cool

**Warnings:** I'm sure I really have murdered foreign culture, by now. In the first set of vignettes it was mostly an obligatory "Sorry if I fuck up, I'm American, um." And now it's more "I've got to stop writing about countries I have minimal knowledge of. D:"  
**Pairings:** Shiki/Eri (implied, badly), Neku/Joshua  
**Rating:** T. Language.  
**Notes:** Unlike the last two rounds of this thing, where I wasn't exactly sure if I was getting the whole name-game right, I totally have it covered here. No, really, Hana is flower, Aoi is blue, Sora is sky, and Joe is English. Yes. Actually, Sora=sky is relevant for the last vignette.

---

The first time Neku invited his friends over, he called ahead. His parents weren't used to his having friends, and a proper warning was in order. Mrs. Hana Sakuraba asked if they were staying for dinner, and Neku, in turn, repeated the question aloud to his friends.

Joshua accepted straightaway, with no hesitation. Shiki had hesitated, then asked Eri to remind her to call her parents later to let them know. Eri agreed as soon as Shiki did.

Beat and Rhyme had what looked a bit like a telepathic conversation to everyone else, before also stating that they would be honored to eat with Neku's family, so long as it was no trouble.

"Yeah," Neku replied into the phone, at last. "That's five extra plates."

Hana swore she died a little inside. After that, she started keeping more food in her refrigerator. The group liked her cooking the best.

---

Joshua and Shiki had a tendency to come over individually, while Beat and Rhyme mostly visited as a pair. Eri only came to the Sakuraba household alone once, and afterward Neku had to promise not to tell anyone; not that he ever would. She sometimes came over with Shiki.

Neku's Uncle Joe (technically only Neku's uncle by virtue of having married Hana's sister, Sora) visited when Sora wanted to (frequently), and had met some of his friends.

Joe and Aoi Sakuraba had an ongoing bet over whether Neku would wind up with Shiki or Eri. Joe had bet on Shiki as the obvious choice, but Aoi hadn't seen Eri or Neku for at least two hours while they were upstairs the one time she visited solo. Not to mention how she'd forced him to swear secrecy at the door.

No definitive evidence in any direction came up until about a year after the bet had been made.

Joe barged in on his nephew pinning Joshua to the bed. He was almost concerned for Joshua's safety, until he saw the tell-tale smirk as he and Neku both turned to the doorway expectantly.

Joe hadn't bothered knocking because he didn't expect this sort of thing unless Shiki or Eri was present, and he walked in on them, too, because he wanted to catch Neku with one of the girls so he could claim the bet, or at least lie and cover it up if it turned out he really was wrong.

Joe held a hand over his eyes as he backed out. That had been a hand up his nephew's shirt, _ugh..._ He barely managed to tell them that dinner was ready, whenever they were ready to come down.

On his way to the stairs, Joe could hear Joshua giggling and telling Neku, "My, Neku, maybe we should be more careful, hmm?"

He could barely hear Neku reply, "You asshole. You utter asshole."

Joe tried not to think about any of it too much.

---

Back downstairs, Joe told Aoi that the bet was a bust, informing him that Neku apparently wasn't interested in girls.

Across the kitchen, Hana elbowed Sora, and to Joe and Aoi's surprise, Sora pulled a handful of yen out of her pocket and handed it to her sister.

The moment apparently ruined, Joshua and Neku had decided to come downstairs, just in time to catch the whole exchange. "I'm a little jealous," Joshua confessed. "My parents never cared this much about my love life. They just wanted an heir."

Neku was frozen in mute horror for several seconds after everyone had turned to them expectantly, as if waiting for the boys' angry breakdown. "It's not just you," he said to Joshua at last. "My life is a joke to everyone around me!"

Neku threw his hands in the air and walked out of the room. Joshua giggled. "He'll be back in a few minutes," he predicted. Neku was, and the entire Sakuraba family looked on in fear and awe as Joshua patronizingly told Neku, "Welcome back, dear."

A boy with no shame was a boy to be feared, they realized.

---

Hana Sakuraba did not approve of Neku's idea of opening up a tattoo parlor, not even after he agreed to go through the proper process of apprenticeship and told her that he had the location and cost of getting it off the ground covered--or, Joshua did. It was really the same thing, he assured himself.

Aoi didn't really see the problem, as long as Neku was doing everything legally. All the better if the big costs of getting the whole business started were covered, and if it was something Neku really loved doing...

Hana still didn't really approve, but her resolve was crumbling as she thought of the art scattered around Neku's room; tacked to the walls and doors, two sketch books full of his work, and a third one being slowly eaten by graphite and ink.

Joe and Sora dropped by on day three of the debate, and Sora refused to get involved on the grounds that Neku was Hana and Aoi's boy, not hers.

Joe, on the other hand, recalled visiting his mother's family in California and seeing beaches full of people of every kind, no few of them having tattoos. He talked to Neku about it, romanticizing about having art on _people,_ because graffiti was impressive, but _tattoos..._

He spent an hour flipping through Neku's sketchbooks until he found a bird with strange tribal designs for tail feathers and wing tips. He demanded that he be Neku's first customer, then promptly skipped over to show Sora.

Joe and Neku looked so excited, and Sora was reluctantly biting her lip to keep from siding with the boys, and Hana finally gave in.


	15. Families Are For Squares

This started out and I only intended to do the first vignette, then I thought I shouldn't stop there... And I wound up writing a lot of vignettes from what might be considered family, or as close as Reapers get.

**Warnings:** I'm sure I really have murdered foreign culture, by now. In the first set of vignettes it was mostly an obligatory "Sorry if I fuck up, I'm American, um." And now it's more "I've got to stop writing about countries I have minimal knowledge of. D:" Ending spoilers!  
**Pairings:** Neku/Joshua  
**Rating:** PG. Language.  
**Notes:** More post-game fun!

---

"What about your parents, Joshua?" Eri asked. She didn't want him to feel left out of the conversation, but she was also genuinely curious.

Shiki focused her attention on him, as well. "You know, I don't think any of us even know where you live." She flailed and blushed for a second. "I mean, that's alright if you don't want to say, I was just--um..."

"You don't want to know," Neku said. "The place smells like a sewer." He smirked, and Joshua seemed not at all fazed by the insult.

"The neighborhood has a certain _unique_ scent, but my humble abode shares nothing resembling it," Joshua insisted. "Not that it matters." He smirked. "I spend most nights at Neku's anyway."

Neku rolled his eyes, but didn't move his hand from Joshua's, where their fingers had been interlaced for the better part of an hour.

"Dude, too much!" Beat said uncomfortably. The girls plus Joshua giggled, while Neku smirked and tried to look offended by both Beat and Joshua.

And just like that, the question of where Joshua lived was averted. It wasn't like the group really needed another house to visit, anyway.

---

Joshua's parents are on their third reincarnation since his deaths. They died an early death, separate in the second, choosing reincarnation over a continuation of the same life, and his father's third incarnation decided to reincarnate without his mother. Joshua currently has a deal going on with a Composer in the southern part of the United States.

The Composer's name is Kinley and he gives terrible reports on Joshua's former parents' well-being. Joshua has not heard from Kinley in two years, and he suspects it is because Kinley does not feel that Joshua is holding up to his end of the bargain.

Joshua's end of the bargain was to notify Kinley if he saw a Player or a Reaper who might make a good Conductor. Joshua thinks Koki Kariya would be sufficient, at least, and his friend Yashiro Uzuki might even make a passable Conductor, for an American.

However, Joshua does not feel obliged to give up two of his most amusing subordinates in exchange for a bit of information about long-dead people who no longer remember him.

He briefly considers sending Minamimoto to Kinley.

Minamimoto is even worse at reports than Kinley is, though, and will no doubt overthrow Kinley in a matter of time.

Neku is not a viable option despite the amusement factor of seeing the boy's face upon realizing that he is, essentially, being sold into the hands of a particularly eccentric American. Joshua does not have a Conductor of his own at the moment, and he will accept none other than Neku.

---

If pressed about Joshua's past and/or family, Mr. H will tell the inquirer to ask Joshua himself. The inquirer usually drops the question right there.

Neku is the first who doesn't, and Sanae Hanekoma reluctantly admits that Joshua hadn't been as close to his parents as he would have liked to have been, largely due to the "I see dead people" thing he had going on.

Mr. H went on to say that he was the closest thing to any kind of family that Joshua had had in years, and Neku was the first _living_ human that he had seen Joshua take to, ever.

Neku thanks him for the coffee and the graffiti on his shop ("For publicity," Mr. H had insisted, and it had worked) and takes his leave. He's due at the ramen shop for lunch with the gang, anyway.

---

Kariya will admit to nothing if asked what he thinks of Shibuya's Composer, especially since he isn't supposed to know anything about the Composer's real identity. He has heard of Games where the Composer's identity is not concealed, mostly overseas, but Shibuya is not one of those places.

Uzuki will bitch relentlessly about how he never sees all her hard work, and then admit it could totally be worse. Probably. But only after Kariya points out that at least Shibuya's Composer isn't like Sparta's once was. Games in Ancient Greece were a bitch, he told Yashiro. The Reapers had a challenge, back then.

That's when Uzuki gets totally confused and starts demanding to know how old Kariya really is, and Kariya will redirect the conversation to something about his mentor who taught him how rough the Reaper life can be, completely dodging the question of age.

---

Megumi Kitaniji would have admitted that he knew little of the Composer and Erase anyone who dared to ask about something that the inquirer was clearly unworthy of knowing.

---

Sho Minamimoto likes Joshua because he provides a challenge. ("Zetta kickass," he summarized.) He is uninterested in Joshua's past, present, future, or sort-of friends, because he is entirely convinced that the Composer of Shibuya will be himself, soon. Any day now. Really, Sho can take him out in the RG. Lather, rinse, repeat.

---

Kariya frequents Ramen Don in Dogenzaka, dragging Uzuki along for the ride because it's almost always her lost bet that pays for his meal.

He doesn't smile or nod politely at the living on the occasions he sees the headphones kid and the Composer in his RG form with the other twerps he saw in that long stretch when they had three games in a row. He doesn't because he's not a giant sap.

Uzuki doesn't seem to really notice anyone but Phones. The Players all blur together in her memory, one after another fighting for their lives in the UG. It's invigorating in the most thorough way possible. It's hard to forget Phones, though, even for Uzuki.

Uzuki demands they switch ramen shops because she's tired of seeing that twerp and having Kariya stop her from brutally kicking his ass, RG-brawl style. She's off duty, he's a punk ass, it's not like she's planning to really kill him, _c'mon _Kariya!

Kariya happens to like the ramen shop, because it's the best in town. He might let Uzuki at least get started on an ass-kicking with any other former Player, too, but Phones is special. The Composer has taken an interest in him, and Kariya can't go telling Uzuki that. Best-case scenario, they get Erased.

Kariya also likes to keep an eye on the Composer. He's not clear on the details of what happened at the end of the string of games, but Phones was at the dead center of it, and he had been playing the Composer's side. If Kariya had to make a bet (and he most certainly would, given the chance), he would say that the whole thing had been a Game or a bet between the Composer and someone else. His best guess is Kitaniji, because Kitaniji is gone and it hurts to think about too much. Memory wipe, Kariya guesses.

Kariya likes to know that the Composer is happy where he is, because if he's not, the whole UG starts to rock like a ship in a storm.


	16. The Value of Smelly Lairs and Trust

For anyone _just_ watching this set of less-than-oneshots, I totally posted a Joshua/Neku one-shot, and a xxxHOLiC/TWEWY crossover. Y'know. If anyone's interested. Or has too much free time and an unhealthy love for fandom. Or a desire to fuel my need for feedback.

**Warnings:** Spoilers for the ending (although not outright stated, plenty can be inferred). Not spoilers for the Secret Reports so much as it won't really make as much sense without them.  
**Pairings:** Joshua/Neku?  
**Rating:** T? Does the use of "bastard" and "pissed" count against me?  
**Notes:** Like I said in the warnings, it may not make a whole lot of sense unless you've gotten the Secret Reports. And if it _does,_ it's a pretty big spoiler.

---

The first few weeks after the Game, Neku barely saw Joshua. He had to hunt him down in his smelly lair. Neku tried frequenting Mr. H's cafe in the vain hope that Joshua might stop by, because it had seemed like the only place Joshua had been interested in during the Game, aside from the Shibuya River, of course.

Mr. Hanekoma saw what Neku was doing in between his bouts of blatant hero-worship for CAT, though, and guiltily admitted that Joshua was maybe a little bit mad at him. He wouldn't meet Neku's eyes when he said it, and his tone implied that he totally understood, and he would totally be pissed at himself if he were put in the same position.

Neku thought back, realizing that he had thought he had seen Mr. H as he lay bleeding out on the floor of the Composer's chamber. He had chalked it up to a combination of a pointless desire to see CAT and lack of blood getting to his brain.

He couldn't think of anything that would really piss off Joshua.

Not an assassination attempt, even if the bastard totally deserved it. Joshua liked being in control. He didn't like his Games being interrupted.

Mr. H hadn't interrupted Joshua's game, though, or caused a discrepancy in the chain of command.

Neku gave in after a week of pondering the question before he stopped trying and screwed up his courage enough to ask Joshua himself.

"He didn't trust me," Joshua replied sullenly. His arms were crossed and he had an extra-pouty expression.

Neku would have laughed, but he could understand. He would be pissed at Mr. H, too.


	17. Love Is Paying For His Coffee

It's not necessary to read Your Place Smells Like A Sewer, my shiny new one-shot, in order to understand this, but I'd totally love it if you did anyway. See that? Shameless self-advertising. Watch me go!

**Warnings:** Slash? End spoilers.  
**Pairings:** Light Joshua/Neku.  
**Rating:** T. Language.  
**Notes:** That one part in the one-shot with the re-decorating was originally supposed to be this, but I liked the re-decorating scene, and this didn't quite fit, but I liked it, too. This functions independently of the one-shot, but go read it anyway. It needs love.

---

Joshua called again, this time to tell Neku that he had moved.

"Define 'moved,'" Neku told him.

"I no longer live near the Shibuya River," he informed Neku. "I have also done a bit of re-decorating."

"Good," Neku replied emphatically. "Where are you now?"

"Why don't you come and find me, Neku?" Joshua hung up with a giggle.

"Bastard," Neku told his phone. He decided to hit up Mr. Hanekoma, first, maybe get him to put whatever kind of tracker Joshua had used during the Game on his own phone.

---

"You live in the back of a café," Neku deadpanned. "You have all of Shibuya to choose from, and you go from a _sewer_ to the back of a café with no customers."

"I've got you guys," Mr. H pointed out reasonably. He was trying to defend his shop's honor, but somehow, to Neku, it sounded more like he was pointing out that there really were some kids stupid enough to pay for his over-priced coffee.

"We don't count," Neku snapped.

Joshua shrugged. "The impressive lack of visitors and extensive back rooms were nice, but--"

"The old place smelled like a sewer," Neku finished.

"I am afraid so," Joshua admitted. He took a seat across from Neku.

"What, you're not going to offer to show me the new place?" Neku said in an offended tone.

Joshua sighed the weary Sigh of the Eternally Patient Martyr. "Do you know how hard moving a place is? I'm exhausted. I need coffee."

"So buy some."

"No money," Mr. H interjected, grinning. "He's been trying to get me to set up a tab all day."

"He won't do it because he's afraid I'll out-live him," Joshua stage whispered.

Neku snorted. "Can't you just, I dunno, magic up the coffee? It's barely across the room. Use a psych."

"RG," Joshua reminded him.

Neku glared for several seconds. Joshua leaned back, pressing the back of his hand to his own forehead like a princess about to faint. Neku snorted and took out his wallet.

Joshua smirked, ruining his princess imitation.

"Asshole," Neku muttered, but there was no venom in it.

---

Despite Joshua's earlier lament of the loss of his extensive and impressive back rooms, the room he had taken was at the end of an impossibly long hallway and bigger on the inside than the rest of the café.

It looked like a normal bedroom, but bigger and more expensive. Neku went straight for the bed. Dissembled, it wouldn't have fit through Neku's front door, or the Wildkat's front door, for that matter. The bed turned out to be just as comfortable as it looked, which was very, and it smelled faintly of ozone and spices and something simple and sweet, like Shiki's favorite Pegaso scent. It smelled like _Joshua_. Neku tried not to think too hard about why he knew what Joshua smelled like.

Joshua laid down on the bed next to Neku, staring at the ceiling and resting. Neku rolled onto his side.

"You know, I wasn't sure you were going to come after you skipped the first few Hachiko meetings," he said conversationally.

"Neither was I," Joshua admitted. He didn't say how it had been Neku coming to find him that made him give in, nor did he thank Neku for pulling him out of the endless cycle of boredom and loneliness that resulted from being a Composer.

"I'm glad you did," Neku said, rolling onto his back, once more. His hand slid along the downy comforter until he found Joshua's.

"Feeling sentimental, Neku?" Joshua teased, but he didn't pull away.


	18. Violence And Innuendo

I wrote this before I went on vacation (I got better!) but I, um, forgot to post. Apparently it was named round 4, which is also what I labelled that set of family-based vignettes. Whoops. The full title for this (because FFnet's chapter titles hate punctuation) was actually Violence and Innuendo (AKA, In Your End-O).

**Warnings:** Language. Gay. Ending spoilers, hardcore.  
**Pairings:** Implied future and/or one-sided Joshua/Neku.  
**Rating:** T/PG.  
**Notes:** This conversation totally happened post-game, I swear. Personal canon, man.

---

"You sure Phones is a good idea for Conductor?" Sanae asked skeptically.

"He couldn't kill me at the end. That earned him bonus points," Joshua pointed out pleasantly.

Sanae shrugged. "Yeah? And he was also able to take out your Conductor without the extra Reaper power boost."

Joshua shrugged back. "So? I like a man who can keep me on my toes."

Sanae openly laughed. "You also like a boy who can hand your ass to you?"

"He is not that strong," Joshua shot back snottily.

"He will be," Sanae replied. "Three weeks and he went from above-average Player to handing over your Conductor's head on a silver platter." Sanae pushed away from the counter as the bell on the door rang, moving under the pretense he had been working all along. "Hey, Phones."

"Neku!" Joshua said, giggling. "Why, we were just talking about you."

Neku raised an eyebrow. "I really don't want to know, do I?" he said to Mr. H.

Sanae shrugged. "Probably not," he admitted. "Coffee?"

Neku nodded. "Yeah."


	19. Is Flying Really Worth Pruning The Wings

**Warnings:** Language. End spoilers, like woah.  
**Pairings:** Implied Joshua/Neku? Maybe?  
**Rating:** T/PG.  
**Notes: **Look, they can't have _always_ had black wings that look vaguely like Gothic architecture, I mean Gothic architecture hasn't always been around. Neither has writing, of course, but that's a detail I'll not try to explain right now.

---

It wasn't that Reapers didn't have different wings, it was that Joshua liked order in things; a trait he had found had increased since he had become Composer of Shibuya. Having hordes of minions running around scaring the Players with their different wings wasn't exactly his idea of a successful Game. Especially not when the Players spent so long figuring out which Reapers were good and which were bad based on their wings. Joshua's first run had been a mess, especially when the long-since-Erased Game Master of the time had spent half of her time running around with her white downy wings messing with the Players' heads.

Most of the current Reapers didn't know that. A few of the older ones, like Kariya, knew about the different wings, and the Reapers who went that extra mile for their work, like Minamimoto, knew, but Joshua preferred not to promote the fact. As it was, the wings he had chosen for his Reapers looked like Gothic architecture, and as long as the Reapers kept them like that, they were sufficient warning for players, and it kept the angular-black-thing in style.

Joshua's subtle re-ordering of his Reapers' appearances wasn't even unusual. At least he hadn't gone with the one-black-feathered wing thing. He had seen that one get messy. The feathers were everywhere, and the wing was bordering on the cliche, and-- Joshua was glad he had _taste_.

Neku, though... His wings were _orange_. It wasn't normal, by any stretch. Kariya had come with his own wings, as well, being a seasoned Reaper _did_ have its advantages; not that he hadn't conformed at Joshua's request anyway. Joshua suspected Kariya might be able to make it to the top, if he tried to take Joshua's job. His wings had been made of calligraphy. It wasn't unheard of in this day and age, but it was highly uncommon.

"Neku, dear, we're going to have to do something about those," Joshua said, steering Neku toward the bathroom.

"What?" Neku demanded. "Shouldn't my wings be all cool and black and bad ass?"

Joshua shrugged. "I usually just influence the shape with my indomitable will," he said casually, "but it seems your body is determined to ruin my UG." He sighed. As if he hadn't had enough of a problem just training his new Conductor, the boy couldn't even be bothered to conform properly. _Honestly._


	20. Crack Does Extra Damage In This District

**Warnings:** _Crack._ I mean, I'm not even kidding. This probably borders on breaking the fourth wall, actually. Definitely suspension of disbelief.  
**Pairings: **Gen. Right?  
**Rating:** G. Well. Maybe we should rate it, "No one, ever_, _at all. Just walk away now."  
**Notes:** I can't be the only person to have wondered about this, right? Someone else has already written a long rant which someone in the audience can link for me, right? _Right? _Also, I may be a bit bitter that J of the M was never in style when I wanted it to be. Freakin' Shibuya trends. (mumble grumble.)

---

Neku glared at the Noise. Like it wasn't bad enough that he was having to fight it, the thing seemed to be looking down at him for using a J of the M pin. It wasn't taking much damage.

"What kind of monster takes less damage just because my pin isn't _trendy_ enough?" he roared.

Shiki was probably shrugging. He couldn't see her, but he knew anyway. "Maybe you should consider listening next time I tell you about the trends, hm?"

"What, like every good Noise rolls over and takes extra damage just because Mus Rattus is trendy?"

"Oh, you _were_ listening!" Shiki cooed from the other zone.

Neku grumbled and grabbed another pin out of his pocket. "Stupid Shibuya trends."


	21. Fun with Beat And Rhyme IV

I thought I was going to have to write something just to keep up my (admittedly very loose) at-least-one-update-per-week schedule, but then I realized that I had these almost up last weekend. Also, my notebook is full of yet un-posted TWEWY. Oh god.

The title was too long for the chapter marker, so it's sekritly _Dreams and Lies, and Somewhere Between, We Make Our Own Reality._**  
**

**Warnings:** Spoilers for the fight with Iron-face. Nothing else, unless you count an over-abundance of warm fuzzy feelings?**  
Pairings:** Beat+Rhyme on the level of canon.**  
Rating:** G **  
Notes:** So, I can't have been the only one to have immediately thought Iron-face was a liar, right?

---

Before everyone is taken to the white room again, Beat receives a text. "It was never specified which of Rhyme's penalties was truly her entry fee. Figure it out before it's your turn."

Shiki and Neku are called into the room first, presumably returning to the realm of the living without a hitch. Beat gets called in next. He smiles for Rhyme and tells her he'll see her on the other side.

The Composer is wearing nose glasses, a samurai wig, and a sailor suit.

Beat is too nervous to laugh, his stomach doing flips and churns like there are Noise all straining to get out inside of him. He's sure he would embarrass himself thoroughly, though, in other circumstances.

"So, which is it, her love, or her happiness?" the Composer asks. His voice sounds slightly familiar, but Beat has bigger things to worry about.

Beat shrugs. "Dunno," he admits. "Iron-face said the memories were my fee."

The Composer seems to consider this, bringing a hand up to his chin. "I am unsure is Konishi should be taken at her word, especially given her betrayal at the last moment," he says at last. "Which would you prefer I return to Rhyme?"

Beat mulls this over, then shrugs. "Man, I can't pick what goes in Rhyme's head. 'S her head. You should be askin' her, not me."

The Composer smiles. "Very wise choice," he says. "I presume you wish to resume your life, as well?"

Beat nods, and light engulfs him.

Under the weight of Beat's heart and morals, the Composer could feel a deep desire for Rhyme to choose her memories.

---

Rhyme walks in next.

"There seems to be a discrepancy in the record-keeping for the entry fees," the Composer tells her.

Rhyme nods.

"You lost some of your memories, as well as your dreams. You have a choice of which to give up, because you ultimately lost."

Rhyme nods again. "The memories are of my brother, aren't they?" she says, at last. "He's Beat, isn't he?"

The Composer smirks. "I confess, I do not know."

Rhyme takes a deep breath. "I want the memories. Everyone used to say my dreams would change as I grew up, anyway."

The Composer smiled. "Very well." Light came down, swallowing Rhyme as memories of her brother--her Beat, returned to her. She had been right.


	22. Fun with Beat And Rhyme V

Keeping with the trend of titles too long with the chapter bar, this one's _Those Weren't Nightmares, or Horrifying Dreamscapes._

**Warnings:** Post-game, spoilers for Beat and Rhyme's fees and Day 4.  
**Pairings:** Beat+Rhyme on the level of canon.  
**Rating:** PG (language.)  
**Notes: **Technically companion to previous, but could totally slide by on its own. Well, so long as we all assume that Iron-face could have been lying (we'll never know! *innocent whistle*) and that the Composer would leave the final decision to Rhyme, anyway. Also, I see all spontaneous resurrections as being very Capt. Jack Harkness, with the sudden breath and all.

---

Back in the realm of the living, Rhyme sat up in her bed, gasping for air. She looked around her room, savoring its familiarity. Then, she threw off her blankets (patterned with skulls and crossbones in a very CAT kind of design), grabbed her beanie off the night stand and ran down the hall to Beat's room, not caring that it was well into the night.

Beat was up, as well, the light from his lamp spilling out into the hallway. He was stripped down to pajama pants and a wife beater. Rhyme tackled him, clinging to his middle. "I had the worst dream," she told his chest.

Beat rubbed a hand up and down her back, in a soothing gesture. "Me, too," he said.

"I don't think it was a dream," Rhyme mumbled.

"Me, neither," he agreed.

"I'm glad I chose the memories," she said. "Dreams are easy to find."

Beat hugged her tighter. "Yeah." He didn't regret handing the decision over to her. He felt like such a fuckwad for getting his little sister killed. _Twice._


	23. Fun with Beat And Rhyme VI

And a long title one more time! _Skills of an Artist Are Something Most People Have, Just Unrefined._

**Warnings:** Spoilers for things you have to infer, given info you pick up post-Konishi battle.  
**Pairings:** Gen  
**Rating:** G  
**Notes:** Tattoo parlor 'verse, but no knowledge of it is required, nor is this necessary to read to understand the rest of the 'verse.

---

"Did I ever want to be a starving artist?" Rhyme asked.

Beat laughed as she glared at the rack of sketchpads and colored pencils. She reached for a pack of pens off to the right, as well. "Rhyme, you wan'ed ta be an astronaut, a cop, a designer, a rock star, and a chef, but starving artist's a new one."

"Will you teach me how to draw?" she asked, finally setting on the sketchpad made of recycled paper.

"Course, I will," Beat replied. It sounded more like "Anything, Rhyme," in her head.

Rhyme grabbed the biggest pack of colored pencils and reached for Beat's hand, dragging him toward the art instruction books.


	24. Awkward Like Zombies

You can check the chapter title for the title this time (the alternative title that's not in the chapter title is _Fun With Beat and Rhyme VII_). Incidentally, did anyone else notice that the titles were internet references today? I mangled other people's titles/lines. Free request to anyone who can guess one. (Or you can make a request for a chapter anyway, I'm not picky.)

**Warnings:** Well, the pairing, of course, but it's not very explicit. In fact, it's Neku-centric. I suck.  
**Pairings**: Beat/Rhyme  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** This one's also Tattoo-parlor 'verse. All you need to know is that Neku runs a tattoo parlor and Beat and Rhyme are his employees. (Post-game.)

---

Neku walks in from the back door this morning, because he likes to set up shop from the inside out. The door is unlocked, meaning that Beat and Rhyme are there first, a not unusual occurrence.

Neku can hear them in the little partitioned-off area where he usually does the tattoos. Rhyme is giggling while Beat tells her some joke in a low voice. Neku sets down his bag by the door, walking toward the sound of their voices.

As he rounds the doorway to the tattoo area, Neku sees Beat pulling away from Rhyme. He doesn't see their lips actually connect, but he's pretty sure that's what happened. On the table, Neku can see their hands clasped, and Beat has a look in his eyes like love.

Neku makes to leave, come back a moment later when they aren't doing something very obviously private, and pretend he saw nothing, but Rhyme sees him. Her eyes go wide for a moment.

Beat, upon seeing her expression, follows her gaze. He manages a similar deer-in-the-headlights look.

Neku realizes it's up to him to make this okay. He looks between them, trying not to look surprised, because a three-way blank, silent freak out is just not what mornings are made for.

He opens his mouth, then closes it. Finally, he deadpans, "Beat is totally not allowed to gag when Joshua starts with the innuendo anymore." He grins, hoping to convey that it's a joke and he doesn't actually mean anything by it.

Beat looks angry for a moment, confused. Then, he starts laughing.

Rhyme sighs in relief and smiles at Neku. She pushes off the table she has been leaning against, walking toward Neku. "Sorry we didn't tell you, but."

"Yeah," Neku agrees. He ruffles her hair and starts setting up the shop.

---

After that, Neku starts noticing seemingly subtle gestures between Beat and Rhyme. Some he's sure have always been there, just with less meaning from Neku's perspective, and others they only do in the shop when it's just Neku around.

Beat ruffles Rhyme's hair a lot. Rhyme kind of leans into it, too, Neku realizes.

They go into the back room when Neku steps out to call Shiki (just to say hi), or Joshua (just to fuck with him over the phone, because he can, and because Joshua does it to him, too). Neku makes sure to come back in through the front door, so that Beat and Rhyme have the extra warning from the bell over the door.

Neku also notices that Beat hugs Rhyme a lot. He picks her up and spins her for no reason at all, sometimes. When he visits her at the front of the shop, mid-customer so that the customer has a break, he sometimes wraps his arms around her middle, leaning on her shoulder while he watches her sketch, or read, or work on her school work, because she's still the youngest of their motley crew.

Rhyme comes in wearing Beat's clothing, sometimes, too. Neku has it on good authority that most younger siblings do that (he asked Joshua once what his family had been like, and he had distracted Neku from any actual information by simply giving Neku a rant on his younger brother's clothes-stealing ways, and Neku has overheard Shiki and Eri's distress when they are unable to find a certain article of clothing, only to find out that Eri's sister has borrowed it for the day).

Rhyme wears one of Beat's hoodies to work, and keep her hands buried in the sleeves, and her face obscured by the hood, because Beat has always bought big hoodies, and Rhyme has always been small for her age.

In public, they are much more subtle; standing a calculated distance apart, and acting as if they are no more romantically close to one another than Joshua is to Eri.


	25. CAT Power

A little late this weekend, I know. And it's not even mostly TWEWY I wrote/am posting.

**Warnings:** Josh/Neku.  
**Pairings:** Josh/Neku.  
**Rating:** G?  
**Notes:** Josh/Neku. (It's too early for fic posting. D: )

---

Joshua reaches up, touching his lips briefly, before putting his hand on his chin. "What was that for?" he asks.

Neku shrugs. "I've been working on this thing lately. An idol of mine taught me this philosophy, and basically I_ live_ life, no regrets..."

"Ah," Joshua replies. "That sounds fascinating."

"I thought you might agree," Neku says, and kisses him again.


	26. Seeking Employment

**Warnings:** End spoilers. D:  
**Pairings:** Josh/Neku?  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** Dude, everything post-Game was bound to be boring for Players.

---

"So, I hear you've got a job opening?" Neku called into the cavernous back room. He could see Joshua's throne-thing, but it was still a several minute walk away.

Joshua looked up. Or, Neku _thought_ he looked up, anyway. He definitely moved. "Well, you'll have to convince Kariya to give up the position."

Neku was halfway to the throne, already. "Lollipop?" he said dismissively. "I can take 'im. You know, I have heard _terrible_ things about his work ethic."

"Mm. They're all true," Joshua replied. He wasn't a glowy, vaguely-humanoid figure sitting in his throne anymore. He was a teen slouching is a chair that was entirely too big for him, managing to fall just short of ridiculous.

Neku laughed.


	27. Homes And Hearts

I know, I usually post on a weekend and it's Monday, but. Okay, I had these on LJ _yesterday_, I'm just a lazy bastard. I know. D:

**Warnings:** Lesbians! Oh noez! (Spoilers for Shiki Week. Does anyone look for fic before finishing at least Week 1, anyway?)  
**Pairings:** Shiki/Eri  
**Rating:** PG? It could probably pass for G, actually.  
**Notes:** Shiki's re-introduction to the RG? She heads straight for Eri.

---

Eri is confused when, after three solid weeks of not seeing Shiki (_and when did that happen,_ she wonders, _where did I find three weeks to waste away from Shiki?_), she opens her mouth to apologize for that thing she said (three weeks_, why didn't I just run over to Shiki's and apologize?_), and instead gets a lap full of Shiki, and soft lips smothering her words before they have a chance to form.

Shiki is pressed flush against Eri from breasts to waists and she's kissing Eri like Eri's her third crush (he was the first one who liked her back, Eri remembers, because she had comforted Shiki after the first two), while her hands are locked on Eri's fashionable D+B vest like she'll never let go, and then suddenly, she does.

Shiki is crying, her iron grip loosened, and her face falling to Eri's shoulder, where she brokenly sobs. Eri awkwardly lifts her arms to fit around Shiki's slim hips (she'd always hated them, always complimented Eri on _her_ hips, but Eri is kind of jealous, because at least regular pants fit Shiki's curves. Reason number one to be a designer? She can make her own clothes.), while she waits for Shiki to cry herself out.

"It's okay," Eri whispers into Shiki's ear. She runs a hand through Shiki's hair, marveling at how soft it feels, and feels her sobs begin to slow, punctuated by the occasional hiccup.

"I'm sorry," Shiki gasps. "I'm sorry, god, I just got you back, and I'm going to mess everything up, I'm so sorry, Eri!" She pulls away and tries to stand up.

Eri holds onto Shiki's wrist, though, and pulls her back down into a hug. It's slightly suggestive with the way Shiki is straddling her thighs, but she's willing to let it slide because it's Shiki.

"It's okay," Eri tells her. "I'm not going anywhere." Eri slowly kisses her forehead, her nose, each cheek, and her lips. "I'm right here, Shiki."

And in the back of Eri's mind somewhere is a part of her that wonders when she started liking girls. The rest of her counters this by asking when she has ever liked anyone as much as she likes Shiki.


	28. The Next Big Thing

**Warnings:** Crack. Look, someone else wondered about this, right? It's like the trendy-pin thing.  
**Pairings:** Gen.  
**Rating:** G. No one, just walk away.  
**Notes:** So, the Shibuya trend rule? The mechanics of that _still_ baffle me.

---

Back in the RG, Shiki quizzes Eri on all the trends she missed during the weeks she was unable to watch them herself.

She finds out that stuffed animals were in for about a week or so, replaced by really tricked-out phones as the cooler accessories the next week, and skateboards following that. Eri dutifully reports that over-sized headphones have stayed in-style the whole time Shiki has been away, and are in danger of being the Next Big Thing if they keep it up much longer.

She can't for the life of her figure out why Shiki is laughing so hard.


	29. CAT Power Expanded

**Warnings:** Does this look familiar? (Spoilers for a certain char? Um, but not very clear.)  
**Pairings:** Joshua/Neku  
**Rating:** PG, language.  
**Notes:** This is an expansion of that drabble from last week, CAT Power? Yeah. I thought I had written more than just those few sentences, and it turns out I totally had. This is honestly a much-improved version, but if anyone doesn't feel like repeating the theme and skips it, I totally understand.

---

Neku waves enthusiastically, flailing and jumping and overall, acting like a total idiot when Joshua finally shows up for the weekly Hachiko meet.

"Happy to see me?" Joshua teases, smirking in the same infuriating fashion that Neku remembers all-too-well from their week together.

Neku grins. "Nah, Shiki's coming up behind you."

Joshua reaches out with his extra sense--it's weaker in the RG, but he can still hear Shiki's Song in the crowd behind him, far enough that Neku probably can't actually see her. "I'm wounded, Neku," Joshua tells him, playing along by clutching at his chest. "_Wounded_."

Neku smirks, then darts forward to plant a kiss on the corner of Joshua's mouth. "Yeah, I missed you, too, asshole," he grumbles.

"Oh?" Joshua says, smirking again, because it makes him look like he knows what's going on. "And what was that for, Neku, dear?"

Neku shrugs, then pauses for a moment to wave at Shiki for real. "It's this thing I've been working on lately, actually. My motto?" he offers. Joshua raises an eyebrow. "I'm trying to enjoy every moment with all I've got, and I've kind of wanted to do that since Day 7 of our Game." The last part comes out in a mumble, and Joshua doesn't miss the fact that Neku is suddenly finding the ground terribly exciting to look at.

"You aren't deterred by our little showdown?" Joshua asks.

Neku waves it off. "Well, bleeding out on concrete _again_ really sucked, but it has been a while, and I saw Sota and Nao walking down the street, they're doing great, by the way, so I am kinda working toward maybe not hating you for everything as much."

"Mm, I'm glad," Joshua tells him, taking a spot next to Neku as Shiki approaches.


	30. Her Name Tattooed Here

Holy crap! Thirty chapters of this! _Thirty!_

**Warnings:** Spoilers for week two, on the way to Pork City.  
**Pairings:** Sota/Nao  
**Rating:** G  
**Notes:** Tattoo parlor 'verse. The whole retaining memories thing? That only applies to Neku&co. Sota and Nao are not a part of that.

---

The bell chimed. A customer, Neku thought. He peeked around the thin partition separating the back and the front of the store to find Sota waiting by the counter, looking threatening. It was Beat and Rhyme's day off, so Neku would have to handle everything himself.

"Oh, hey. Small world," Neku said, by way of greeting.

Sota raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"

Neku shrugged. "Dunno. I thought you looked familiar, but I could be wrong. So, what do you need?"

"I want my girlfriend's name on my bicep," Sota replied. "Her birthday is today, and I wanted something special."

Neku hesitated. "I don't usually do names," Sota's face seemed to convey that this was not the first time he had heard that, "but come on," Neku waved Sota to the back room.

"Not gonna try and stop me?" Sota challenged, grinning. "I got turned away at the last shop."

Neku shrugged again, smiling. "Yeah, well, that's how it goes. I can see it in your eyes. Nao, right?"

Sota nodded. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Like this, but better."

Neku unfolded it, finding a half-drawn dove Noise. "Huh," he said. He had seen it flutter away from Sota as he was Erased by the Taboo Noise. Sota had become a new kind of corehog, and followed. Neku flipped through his sketchbook until he found the page where he had drawn Sota's and Nao's Noise forms from memory.

"Somethin' like this?" Neku offered, holding up the page.

"Yeah!" Sota exclaimed. "Like that."

"Okay, and then 'Nao...'" Neku sketched Nao's name into the wing, breaking lines here and there until one wing was made of slightly-distorted letters. "This work?"

"Yeah, definitely! Thanks, man," Sota told him sincerely.

"No problem," Neku replied.

---

Later, when Sota recounted the tale for Nao's benefit, he realized that he had never actually told Neku her name.


	31. Heart of Gold

Written as a part of a challenge to write 10 drabbles to 10 songs; stop writing when the song finishes. I cut number 10, and may eventually get around to editing it enough to publish. (Probably not.) The songs that 31-39 are titled for are available at the LJ if anyone's interested.

**Warnings:** Pre-Game. End spoilers.  
**Pairings:** Gen.  
**Rating:** PG, language.  
**Notes:** Joshua's thoughts scattered loosely around the whole scene wherein stuff happened (look, I'd be less vague, but just. If you know that there's a spoiler for him pre-Game, you're good. If not, I don't want to ruin it in the A/N, because then it makes me a total jerkface.)

---

**Tori Amos - Heart of Gold**

**---  
**

Joshua gazed at the teenagers. Day three of watching the Udagawa mural from a safe, UG distance had revealed little of interest. He wasn't looking for someone with a heart of gold, and optimism out the metaphorical ass. He was looking for someone with an imagination.

The boy he found had one like the sky; it seemed to go on forever. Joshua took off running, hoping to catch the boy before he left.

Joshua caught him, and gave him a show besides before sending him to the UG. Well, it wasn't like he had really need those memories, anyway.


	32. Nothing Better

**Warnings:** None.  
**Pairings:** Shiki/Eri? Or gen. Whatever.  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** Implied time travel. Because I just really like time travel.

---

**The Postal Service - Nothing Better**

---

Shiki smiled at Eri as soon as she saw her best friend again. For everyone else in Shibuya, the last three weeks had never happened. Shiki actually had knowledge of at least seven days of Shibuya trends more than she should.

Eri waved slowly. She was biting her lip and looking at the ground. Periodically, she shyly glanced up at Shiki. As Shiki neared, she opened her mouth, getting out about half of "I'm sorry," before Shiki was on her, hugging her like she was afraid Eri could disappear, slipping through her fingers like so much mist.


	33. Metal Heart

**Warnings:** Vague reference to some scene in Week 1, maybe toward the end? I don't even remember what this was based on. D:  
**Pairings:** Neku/Shiki? Or gen.  
**Rating:** PG, language.  
**Notes:** At some point Neku quit being a total asshole. I don't remember what point that was, but that's totally what I'm referencing, here.

---

**Cat Power - Metal Heart**

---

Neku took the opportunity to make Shiki feel better as soon as his pride would allow. The comforting words were rather back-handed, even for him, but he figured he owed Shiki for Day 2.

Neku could feel his emotional boundaries crumbling as Shiki's smile returned. She was such a broken girl, he realized, fucked up, and barely above himself in the social department. She only had the one friend, and she was so bitter, Neku could almost _taste_ it.


	34. Undo

**Warnings:** Spoilers for the start of Day 7, Week 3, but I think you're good, so long as you recognize Konishi/Iron-face. (I love the nicknames for the bad guys so much. 3)  
**Pairings:** Um, Beat/Neku? Look, I'm calling gen, but you can read into it what you want.  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** This is a lot gayer in retrospect. And the song? Yeah. That was one of the FmA Ops or EDs (I don't remember which.) The editing I did for this mostly consisted of changing the high-five to a fist-bump. While I prefer high-fives, Beat is definitely a fist-bump kind of guy.

---

**Cool Joke - Undo**

---

Neku and Beat fist-bumped as Iron-face's soul dispersed. Her Noise form had caused a lot of trouble, but Neku thought back to the text he had received. It had meant something, after all, even if it had just sounded like utter nonsense right up until the last moment.

Neku handed Rhyme's pin to Beat, but Beat refused it, insisting that since Neku could use it, it might be better for him to hang on to it.

Neku realized that the growing warmth in his chest was gratitude. Beat trusted him more than he deserved, especially taking into account the first week. If Neku were Shiki, he might have made a happy coo and hugged Beat, but since he was Neku, he gave Beat a manly pat on the back and said "Thanks."


	35. He Lied About Death

**Warnings:** The final dramatic scene, pre-credits/happily-ever after, but post-final boss.  
**Pairings:** Neku/Joshua? Or gen. (I'm doing a lot of well-_maybe_? but it's really kind of gen.)  
**Rating:** PG, language.  
**Notes:** This one was actually based on a song that appears to be on every FST at subashiki. I'm not even kidding. Click the download: music tag. Really. Do it. I understand that the song practically screams JOSHUA and ENDGAME in loud, angry letters, but still. Nearly every fanmix had the song. (It helps that it's actually a really cool song.) (What, you want drabble-relevant notes?)

---

**Stars - He Lied About Death**

---

Neku raised the gun, feeling the rage course through his veins like so many clichés and metaphors for anger and vengeance that Rhyme could probably recite, were she the sort to encourage bad feelings.

At the last second, Neku dropped the gun. He couldn't kill a friend, even if Joshua was a liar and a bastard, and so much frustration embodied in one scrawny teen. Rhyme, Shiki, Beat. They wouldn't be able to shoot a partner, either. Not now. Not after they had all been through so much hell together.

The second bullet hit. Neku thought that the emotional pain might dull some of the physical. HE was wrong. Bullets _still_ hurt like a bitch, he noted.


	36. Sodom, South Georgia

**Warnings:** Post-Game? Um, nothing big, actually. Angst?  
**Pairings:** Gen. (without question this time, I swear!)  
**Rating:** PG, language.  
**Notes:** Post-Game angst. Implied that Neku now works as part of the UG? Or he could have just developed the ability to see it, like Joshua pre-death.

---

**Iron and Wine - Sodom, South Georgia**

---

Neku watched the souls come through, slowly being lined up in a room on the very edge of existence. Everything was quiet here, safe. Thy looked like they deserved the rest, but Neku knew how it felt to wake up on the street, full of rage for having lost so much time.

They were all probably homesick, tired, scared, eager to get the fuck away from the Game and everything related to it. They would come away better for the experience, having re-evaluated their lives and their values, but it would hurt. It would hurt, and it might never stop.


	37. Nine in the Afternoon

**Warnings:** Post-game fluff. Not so much spoiler-ridden as it won't make a whole lot of sense if you haven't seen the ending.  
**Pairings:** Gen.  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** Really, all the warnings say it. This isn't even long enough for warnings. D:

---

**Panic At the Disco - Nine in the Afternoon**

---

Neku beamed at the sky. The sun was bright, his friends were alive, Joshua still hadn't come, and that kind of put a damper on things, but Neku was confident that he would come. If he didn't, Neku might even visit Mr. H's café again. He was starting to crave some over-priced coffee, anyway.


	38. Shameless

**Warnings:** Again with the not-spoilers. It's not that I'm giving big spoilers, but unless you've already seen the end, it won't make much sense.  
**Pairings:** Joshua/Neku? Neku/Shiki? Gen?  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** Neku becomes Composer. He kind of doesn't notice. .

---

**Say Anything - Shameless**

---

Neku felt the Music, rather than heard it at first. He would pass Shiki sometimes, and her kind-but-nervous demeanor would permeate the air, leaving a pleasant buzz around his head. Then, he would sometimes be near Joshua, and his whole body would ring out like a tuning fork.

He realized rather quickly that everyone around him seemed to be maturing faster, too. Beat and Rhyme were taller now, and Shiki was even more beautiful than the first time he had seen her.

Joshua wouldn't look at him for a week when he realized what was going on. Neku realized that the whole thing was his fault. Neku found that he didn't mind as much as he should. An eternity with Joshua by his side sounded an awful lot like hell, but Neku found he actually didn't mind so much.


	39. Round One

**Warnings:** Well, nothing explicit.  
**Pairings:** Beat/Rhyme? Or sibling love.  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** The idea for the tattoo-parlor-'verse is for Neku to have started the shop, Beat to be his partner, and Rhyme to be studying to be an anesthesiologist, because tattoos fucking hurt.

---

**Youngblood Brass band - Round One**

---

Neku could feel Beat's music change from an aimless rhythm to a march as he and Rhyme found their dreams. Rhyme wanted to be an anesthesiologist, having thought of the idea in the middle of the medical class she had taken just to fill her schedule.

Beat seemed to improve his artwork and creativity the more he helped Rhyme with hers on his breaks at the shop.

Neku felt something like pride swell in his chest as each new note found its way into their quickly intertwining melodies.


	40. Don't Fall Through The Stars

The fic was written to the tune of Pulling Heaven Down by Blue October; the _chapter_ title is actually from Grey Ghost by Mike Doughty. The bolded, centered title is from the Blue October song.

**Warnings:** Um. Slash? That's all, really.  
**Pairings:** Neku/Joshua  
**Rating:** PG, for innuendo.  
**Notes:** So, you can only use pins in battle, but there's obviously Day 2 (Shiki week) to contend with and Mr. Mew? Um. Look, I think psychokinesis works outside of the Noise zone, so that's what I'm running with. Written due to an overdose of Blue October. (That sounds dangerous, but this actually happens a lot.) Also, it occurred to me afterward that with all the lights they probably couldn't really see the stars at all, so, um, pretend that it's the middle of a city-wide power outage, okay? /fail

---

**It Was A Midnight... A Silent Twilight...**

---

"They're like stars you could reach." Neku stretches his arm skyward, as if testing just to make sure he can't reach.

"Yeah," Joshua agrees. "I don't know how high I can go."

"Why not? You've been Composer for-- I dunno."

"Longer than you've been alive," Joshua replies.

"Yeah, so--"

"We could try," Joshua suggests. "You have aroused my curiosity, among other things." He briefly smirks at Neku, before sliding back to a far-off look. "You have a habit of doing that, I've noticed."

"You could fly," Neku realizes.

"I will have to raise my Frequency, and yours."

"Let's do it." Neku stands, holding out a hand and grinning.

Joshua takes it, then slides behind Neku, hands moving to his waist. Joshua flickers out of existence for a moment while Neku feels a light tingle through his whole body. Suddenly, there are white wings in his periphery. He turns to see Joshua, but he can't, really; they're too close and Joshua is in his blind spot.

"You're crazy," Joshua says, as if to reassure himself. "This is crazy."

"I'm crazy?" Neku challenges, as they lift off. "You're crazier."

Joshua's arms are tight around his middle, bordering on being uncomfortable; it won't take long for it to get worse.

"You can help out, you know. Use a pin," Joshua says.

The roof of the 104 building is falling away from them, and the flight is perhaps not as smooth as Neku had imagined, because Joshua is focusing on gaining altitude and weighed down.

Neku focuses on the psychokinesis pin in his pocket to lift himself higher. He gets it wrong at first, almost pulling out of Joshua's grasp. He turns in Joshua's loosened hold, still moving upward.

They lose interest in flight somewhere around the lower clouds, as the air thins and it gets cold, because Neku grins suddenly, and kisses Joshua out of the blue. He loses his concentration as the kiss deepens, leaving them to dive back to the roof of 104, because the roof of Shibuya just holds no interest.

---

A/N: So, um, if I horribly messed up anything other than the stars-being-visible-in-a-well-lit-city blunder, I'd like to know for future reference, even if it'll be hard to edit this down to account for it. **ETA:** According to a comment halfway down the No Celebrities Were Harmed page at TvTropes, Japan has regularly scheduled blackouts to conserve power. Ha.

---


	41. No Rest For The Wicked

Part of a trio of self-drabble challenges.

**Warnings:** Unedited.  
**Pairings:** Pretty much gen.  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** NOTHING.

---

**Cage the Elephant - No Rest for the Wicked**

---

Neku sat up in bed, looking around his room for whatever had woken him up. He almost had a heart attack when he saw someone sitting on his windowsill.

"Joshua?" he hissed.

The figure on the windowsill turned his head. Of course it was Joshua. No one else had that kind of ridiculous hair.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" Neku demanded.

Joshua smirked. Neku could only see the outline of his face, but he knew that the change was a smirk. "Silly Neku, there's no rest for the wicked."

Neku sighed. "I'm sure." Neku moved to his window to sit by Joshua. "You know," he said. "The city sounds beautiful like this, but it's better when it's not breaking into my house."


	42. Let Me Go

**Warnings:** Unedited.  
**Pairings:** Pretty much gen.  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** I don't actually know anything about fashion. /fail.

---

**Cake - Let Me Go**

---

Shiki stopped in front of a store in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't a nice shopping district, _no,_ it was the food district. Eri raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. She may have been the fashion expert, but Shiki wasn't a bad sidekick.

She followed Shiki into the store, ignoring the glares the shopkeeper sent their way.

Shiki didn't move gracefully, but she moved with purpose, and Eri figured that was at least as good. She grabbed a skirt that might have been a lot prettier if it didn't clash with _itself,_ and could have used with a better cut, and the _stitches!_ She haggled a price with the shopkeeper, then turned to Eri once they were outside and grinned. "There are at least three layers of fabric here, and if I can just take out some of this seam, it should work for that new miniskirt you drew."

Eri marveled at her sense of fashion. Clearly Eri was not the fashion expert here. She was the sidekick.


	43. Youth Rhapsody

AnimeLyricsdotcom tells me that Youth Rhapsody is the translation for Sishun Kyousoukyoku. This inspired a metric fuckton of kitten-eating jokes over at the LJ. ...Floating cat-toast, anyone?

**Warnings:** Unedited.  
**Pairings:** Pretty much gen.  
**Rating:** G.  
**Notes:** For my little sister, who has terrible taste in music and no internet access. (That means I get to look up every song she wants. Ugh. Seishun Kyousoukyoku is not actually one of her songs, but there's only so much I can do with a song that isn't in my language, y'know?) Also, I added the songs for download, because I totally hate it when an author mentions a song and does not provide a sample.

---

**Sambomaster - Seishun Kyousoukyoku**

---

Rhyme swore that Def Märch had deep and meaningful lyrics. She told Beat that they had some of the deepest stuff she had ever heard, and that it was beautiful, if he would just pay attention long enough to hear the line about the way noise had drowned out 777's soul, come on, _please?_

So Beat listened every time she asked. It might as well have been Greek for all he could make out.

Beat still hated Def Märch's music, and still felt odd every time he saw 777 (he was glad the guy wasn't Erased anymore, but how weird was it that he even had to worry about that?), but he loved Rhyme, so he suffered screaming guitar solos and terrible unintelligible yells that were supposed to be lyrics.

He was more unnerved by the way one of them ended on the word "Baby" like it was an endearment more than anything. Beat could have sworn he heard a line earlier in the song about eating kittens.


End file.
